After the U.S. Labor Department released a report Jan. 9 showing a rise in employment and a falling jobless rate for the  month of December, the Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued an official statement Jan. 10 which was reported by the Sugar Land Sun.

Perez believes that the U.S. economy closed out 2014 on a continued hot streak  – with 252,00 jobs added to the rolls in December and unemployment rate dropping to 5.6 percent.

In his December 2014 Employment Situation report, Perez said, “The resolve and resilience of the American people, plus the steady hand of President Obama, pulled us out of the Great Recession and have put the economy on a sure path. There’s still more to do, and the president is determined to make the fourth quarter of his term the most productive yet. Yesterday, he unveiled a new initiative to help more hard-working Americans own a home. Today, he will announce a new manufacturing innovation hub and propose making two years of community college free for anyone willing to work for it.”

In reference to the future, he added, “There is plenty of unfinished business in this recovery. We need to do more to achieve meaningful wage growth, because too many middle-class families are still working harder and falling further behind.”

Additionally in his report, Perez listed 14 important things U.S. citizens should know about the 2014 economy, the first three being: Nearly 3 million jobs in 2014 – the best year since 1999, this is the longest streak of private sector job growth on record: 58 straight months, and the U.S. lost nearly 4.5 million jobs the year before President Obama took office and now there has been 11 consecutive months with employment growth above 200,000.